I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosureBy Mavis Butterfield on September 5, 2018 · 24 Comments

Yesterday I was outside talking to the HH when I looked down to see one of the chickens pecking at his shoe. It was almost as if the hen was saying “Enough already, finish my coop.” My poor husband, it’s just one project after another around here. 😉

The coop though, it’s coming along now and just as the sun was setting last night the HH was able to nail the plywood in place on the roof. I’m hoping today the wire goes up around the coop and by tonight the girls will be contained.

The HH spotted a hawk up in a tree nearby the other day and so now the pressure is on. 😉 After hiding in the woods along the back property line, the girls ran inside to the chicken coop and decided to hunker down there for the rest of that afternoon. I made them a pie pan full of oatmeal and it seemed to calm them down.

Late last week we started clearing the rock wall in front of our property.

And although we both ended up with a poison ivy rash {the HH’s is WAY WORSE than mine} the area is finally cleared and from here on out we will be using some sort of poison ivy spray instead of pulling it out by hand. Sometimes you’ve just got to learn the hard way I guess.

Pruning, is next on our list for outdoor clean up.

Take a look at this corn! Last night while the HH was working on the coop I pulled a few ears off the stalks and was shocked to find we had a bunch of healthy looking corn. For years I heard people say there’s nothing better than an ear of fresh picked corn. And you know what? I believe them now. Garden to table in less than an hour…. it was the BEST corn I have ever tasted. And to think I was about to give up on growing corn because the first few ears I had harvested had mush tops.

The way I see it, even if only half the corn we harvest is worm free, it’s totally worth it now that we both know what truly fresh corn tastes like. And besides, I can always sell the corn stalks at our little farm stand at the end of our driveway, right? Last night I sold 5 bundles!

The Indian corn I planted though, it’s now fairing as well as the sweet yellow corn we planted. The bloody butcher corn pictured above fared the best, but almost all of the other corn was gobbled up by bugs.

{I haven’t checked the strawberry corn though so there is still hope for it}.

Gobble gobble.

Oh well, some crops are winners…. and others, not so much.

Last night’s harvest.

Arapaho peppers{I bought the seeds from Johnny’s. If you’re looking for a hot pepper {that’s not too hot!} I highly recommend picking up a packet of these for next year.

Gardening. Half the fun is experimenting, don’t you think? 😉

How is YOUR gardening doing these days? Are things starting to wind down, or are they just getting started? Curious minds want to know.

Total spent growing 309 pounds 14 ounces of food this year $811.00 {about $2.62 a pound so far!} My goal every year is to get this down to $1.00 a pound or less by the end of the season. What did I spend my garden money on this year you ask? Well, $399 on Mannyand the rest on seeds, compost, grow light bulbsand small garden tools/supplies.

Are you growing a vegetable garden this year? If so, what are harvesting these days? Curious minds want to know!

Comments

Yes, fresh corn is awesome! How do you cook yours? I cook mine in the microwave. Easy and no lost vitamins or flavor! I cook a lot of fresh vegetables in the microwave. Lots of flavor and no lost nutrients. I love reading of your gardening experiences. Let me know what you find that kills poison ivy. I need to know, too. LOL. Also need to find something to kill honey suckle. It’s all over our fences. Although it smells good, it will tear them down. 🙁

I used Spectracide Weed Stop for Lawns Ready-to-Use, 1-Gallon on the poison Ivy on my property. It worked great and was inexpensive. I even had to use on the edges of the strawberry patch and it didn’t kill the strawberry plants, I just let the mice have the strawberry the next year.

Great looking produce and yard! I have had luck with smothering poison ivy and keeping things clear under trees and shrubs in areas you spend time, just as your doing. Without the shade the poison ivy needs, you may not get nearly as much next year. I lay cardboard followed by landscape fabric (sometimes) followed by wood chips to say goodbye to it. Your corn looks great, the worms are usually at the top of the ear and we cut that part off. It may sound gross, but you know they don’t have chemicals sprayed on it, plus I imagine all kinds of stuff has been on the food we buy at the store, we just don’t see it.

I planted straight 8 cucumbers and only harvested “straight 4” cucumbers LOL and only few at that. The volunteer Lemon cucumber that grew in my bean patch is doing great though! What do you recommend mildew?

There are varieties of corn that have tighter husks which doesn’t allow the corn worms to enter easily…..check with your county extension agent fir your region, and search your seed catalogs for next year

With poison ivy, the worst part is the first clean out. After that, you just pull out the little shoots as they appear. They are small and easy to pull (tender little poison shoots). I just pull mine and then toss them in the dumpster; I’m worried if I throw them in the woods/weed pile they will just re-grow there. Oh, Then go wash your hands/use throw-away gloves…

Has anyone mentioned using mineral oil to prevent the corn earworms? Just a few drops where the silks enter the corn head as the silks start to color. You want them under control because they will also get your toms and sunflowers. Treat the soil with BT because the last batch of the season drops into the dirt and will hatch in the spring.

My summer garden is winding down. We’ve had over 24 inches of rain since mid June so my tomatoes gave up. Summer squash and melons have all been eaten. Cucumbers are still cranking (crazy for this time of year). I grew them on a fence this year….maybe that’s the difference. Brussel sprouts and peppers are patiently waiting to be picked. I usually start clearing off by now but then the gardening bug bit and I planted fall veggies…lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, Stone Head and Chinese cabbage, radishes, turnips, onions, beets, and green beans. Fingers crossed frost holds off and it all works out. 90+ outside now (VA).

Our garden is winding down. We’ve still got some tomatoes out there, but not a ton, and that’s probably a good thing! I’ve got quite a bit of tomato sauce out in the freezer, and a bunch of tomatoes ripening in the house (the squirrels finally seem to have noticed our tomatoes and we’ve caught a few sneaky buggers in the front yard, running away with tomatoes in their mouths!). We have a pumpkin or two still out there as well. I’m looking forward to growing more stuff next year. 🙂

I have used disposable plastic gloves under my garden gloves to pull poison ivy this year. Used the plastic bags method last year but don’t really shop that much and try to use cloth bags when I do so really don’t have many plastic bags. The ones I do get are used as bathroom trash liners. Bought a pair of off brand playtex gloves to use recently. They give a nice grip, have long sleeves and I don’t need to pop my garden gloves into the wash as often.

Years ago someone gave a 4-H group a van load of corn stalks. I was shocked how fast those sold!
We are getting a large Tupperware of Blackberries every other day. We also are getting about three tomatoes a day. The zucchini plants are finally slowing down.